Friend wins All-Qualifier Challenger final in Fairfield; Mandlik claims biggest career title at W100 in Edmond; Vacherot’s unlikely Shanghai title; Gauff wins Wuhan 1000

After a week in Texas dedicated to high-level junior tennis, I have some catching up to do on the USTA Pro Circuit and on the WTA and ATP Asian Swing in tonight’s post.

Jay Friend, a senior at the University of Arizona, continued the momentum that saw him claim the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa last month and today captured his first Challenger title at the Fairfield 50 in California. The 21-year-old from Japan, playing in his fourth Challenger since July, defeated fellow qualifier Edward Winter of Australia, a junior at Pepperdine, 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-2 in this afternoon’s final. Friend, who has not won an ITF men’s circuit title at any level, has moved his ranking from 743 into the ATP Top 500 with his 15-7 record in ITF and ATP Challenger events since completing his junior year in May.

Like Friend, Winter, who turned 21 last month and until this week had never advanced past the quarter-finals of a Challenger, is ranked 454 in the ATP live rankings thanks to his performance in the final.

The unseeded German team of Mats Rosenkranz and Max Wiskandt defeated unseeded Spencer Johnson (UCLA) and Wally Thayne (Utah, Brigham Young) 3-6, 7-5, 10-6 in the final.

Friend plays the ATP Challenger 100 in Lincoln Nebraska this week using the ATP College Accelerator for participation; Winter did not qualify for that program, finishing his second season at Pepperdine ranked 32nd and not playing against Lincoln.

At the USTA Pro Circuit W100 in Edmond, OklahomaElli Mandlik won the biggest title of her career today. The unseeded 24-year-old defeated No. 3 seed Marina Stakusic of Canada 6-3, 7-5; the only set she dropped all week was in the first round against Fiona Crawley (UNC). With this title, Mandlik now ranks 211 on the WTA live rankings.

The doubles title went to Valeriya Strakhova of Ukraine and Anastasia Tikhonova of Russia, who defeated unseeded Olivia Gadecki of Australia and Olivia Lincer (Central Florida, Oklahoma State) 6-3, 6-7(2), 10-8 in the final.

The other USTA Pro Circuit women’s event was a W35 in Redding, Californiawith unseeded Francesca Pace of Italy beating top seed Lea Ma (Georgia) 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 in today’s final. Ma had defeated qualifier Krisha Mahendran of India, a freshman at USC, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 in the semifinals, while Pace had defeated No. 6 seed Akasha Urhobo 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2.

Unseeded Jaeda Daniel (Auburn, NC State) and Australia’s Elysia Bolton (UCLA) won the doubles title, defeating top seeds Kolie Allen (Ohio State) and Rasheeda McAdoo (Georgia Tech) 7-5, 7-5 in the final.

Former Texas A&M All-American Valentin Vacherot put together one of the most unlikely runs this side of Emma Raducanu this month, with the 26-year-old from Monaco taking the ATP Masters 1000 in Shanghai with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 over his cousin and fellow A&M alum Arthur Rinderknech of France.

Vacherot, who was ranked 204th entering the tournament, only made the qualifying field as an alternate and was two points shy of losing in the second and final qualifying round to former Kentucky star Liam Draxl. But he defeated five seeds, including No. 4 Novak Djokovic in the semifinals, to reach the final, and his victory over Rinderknech today places him in the ATP Top 40. Until now he had not cracked the ATP Top 100, with a ranking of 110 in June his previous record. For more information on the stunning run, which resulted in the first Masters 1000 title for a Monaco player, see this article from the ATP.

The Texas A&M tennis community has been watching this developing story for the past week – I heard a lot about it while I was in Houston, just over an hour’s drive from College Station – and you can read all the coverage in the proud men’s program. here.

While Vacherot and Rinderknech turned heads this week for their exploits at the top of the ATP food chain, another Aggie is making waves on the USTA Pro Circuit. France’s Raphael Perot, who completed his stint at Texas A&M in 2024, has now won two consecutive M15 tournaments with his title today in Lexington Kentucky. The second-seeded 24-year-old, who won the M15 in Ann Arbor two weeks ago, defeated former Tennessee All-American Shunsuke Mitsui of Japan 7-6(3), 0-6, 6-4 in today’s final.

Mitsui had defeated qualifier Andrej Loncarevic of France, a sophomore at LSU, 7-5, 6-2 in the semifinals; Perot defeated 17-year-old Jack Kennedy 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 in the other semifinal.

Unseeded team JJ Mercer and Eli Stephenson won the doubles title, with the former Kentucky teammates defeating unseeded Ryan Fishback (Virginia Tech) and Matthew Thomson (Wake Forest) 7-5, 6-3 in the final. Mercer, 25, now has three professional doubles titles; it is the first for 20-year-old junior Stephenson.

Coco Gauff won her first title since Roland Garros in June at the WTA Masters 1000 in Wuhan, China. Gauff, the No. 3 seed, defeated No. 6 seed Jessica Pegula 6-4, 7-5 to claim her 11th WTA title and her third 1000 title. The 21-year-old, who hasn’t dropped a set all week, has qualified for the end of the year WTA finalswhere she will defend her 2024 title. For more information about today’s match, see this article from the WTA website.